Von Ryan's Express is a World War II adventure film, released in 1965, about a group of Allied prisoners of war who conduct a daring escape by hijacking a freight train and fleeing through German-occupied Italy to Switzerland. It stars Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, and is based on the novel by David Westheimer. It was directed by Mark Robson. The film changes several aspects of the novel, most notably the ending, which is considerably more upbeat in the book. It became one of Frank Sinatra's most successful films.

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Colonel Joseph Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is a USAAC pilot who is shot down over Italy. He is taken to a POW camp, run by the cruel Major Basilio Battaglia (Adolfo Celi). Ryan insists that Battaglia salute him as a superior officer, which is reluctantly translated by the sympathetic second-in-command, Captain Vittorio Oriani (Sergio Fantoni). The camp is mainly populated by British prisoners. The previous Allied commanding officer, who was British, has recently died, due to being placed in the metal "sweat box" as punishment for hitting Battaglia with a stick. When Ryan arrives in camp, Major Eric Fincham (Trevor Howard) is the Senior British officer. Ryan, being senior to Fincham, assumes command of the prisoners.

Ryan, aware that the Allies are close to liberating Italy, reveals several of the prisoners' escape attempts, infuriating Fincham and the British soldiers. Conversely, when Battaglia refuses to improve camp conditions, Ryan orders the prisoners to strip and burn their filthy clothes, forcing Battaglia to issue new ones. Battaglia throws Ryan into the "sweat box" as a punishment.

After hearing of the Italian capitulation to the Allies, the guards flee. The British promptly put Battaglia on trial as a war criminal, and allow Oriani to defend him. Battaglia portrays himself as a broken man who has repudiated fascism. Ryan orders him to not be executed but, instead, to be put in the "sweat box."

The men depart on a long trek across the Italian countryside to freedom. Oriani moves forward in an attempt to contact Allied forces. When morning comes, Germans recapture the prisoners. Fincham thinks Oriani has betrayed them. When the POWs are put on a train, they find a severely battered Oriani in the prisoner carriage. Battaglia is outside, gloating, and they realise they were betrayed by the former camp commandant. The Nazis shoot all the sick prisoners. Fincham blames Ryan for this due to him letting Battaglia live, and shouts out "You'll get your Iron Cross now, von Ryan!" The train travels to a brief stop in Rome, where a German officer, Major von Klemment (Wolfgang Preiss), takes command of the train.

Ryan uses a metal bar to pry open a hole in the floorboard of the car. That night, when the train stops to refuel, Ryan, Fincham and Lieutenant Franklin Orde sneak out from underneath the train and kill several of the guards, then they free a carload of POWs who help them kill the remaining guards, and put on their German uniforms. Ryan and Fincham capture von Klemment and his Italian mistress, Gabriella (Raffaella Carrà). As the train moves out, another train appears behind them. Von Klemment reveals that the second train is carrying German troops and is on the same schedule. This will prevent their escape. Further, von Klemment is to receive orders at each railway station. A German-speaking Allied chaplain, Captain Gregory Costanzo (Edward Mulhare), is enlisted to impersonate the German commander to ensure their passage through the next station in Florence.

Through the documents received in Florence, they learn that both trains are headed towards Innsbruck in Nazi-occupied Austria. Through trickery, the prisoners switch their train onto a different line at Bologna. Constanza helps them use blank stationary to type a phony official order diverting the train to Milan. The German troop train continues on toward Innsbruck. Von Klemment and Gabriella are kept bound and gagged, but Gabriella uses a shard of broken glass to sever their bonds. At a water stop, von Klemment and Gabriella escape, killing Orde. Both are shot dead by Ryan.

By this time, SS troops, led by Colonel Gortz (John Van Dreelen), have discovered the ruse. The prisoners put the train on a siding, but discover that it leads to a secret German facility, which is subsequently bombed by Allied aircraft. The train races through the facility, bombs exploding everywhere. Several cars catch fire, and a number of men are wounded. After they leave the facility, the (Italian) engineer and Oriani disable the signals at one signal box, disabling the station's track displays and confusing the Germans. The prisoners then re-route the train to bypass Milan and toward neutral Switzerland through manual switching without being noticed.

Gortz boards a train, with troops, to pursue. As the Alps appear, the prisoner train is attacked by German aircraft. Rocket fire causes boulders to fall and destroy a section of track as a key bridge enters a tunnel. The POWs replace the damaged rail as the SS race up from behind. Ryan, Fincham, Sgt. Bostick (Brad Dexter), Cpl. Giannini (Richard Bakalyan), Private. Ames (James Brolin), and others hold off the German soldiers, but many are killed in the battle. When Bostick throws back a German grenade he is killed in the process. This exchange allows Ryan, Fincham, Giannini, and Ames to retreat back to the train. The prisoner train moves out, and the defenders run for the rear platform with the Germans in close pursuit. Fincham makes it and desperately reaches back for Ryan's outstretched right hand, but Ryan is gunned down by Gortz just as the train crosses into Switzerland.

The film ends with a voice-over by Fincham, repeating his early comment to Ryan, "If only one gets out, it's a victory."

The novel was published in 1963. The novelist David Westheimer had been a POW during World War II. He witnessed the bombing of Bolzano in 1943 from a box car.[3] The New York Times book reviewer said the novel "has everything for the screen but the camera directions."[4]

The novel was a best seller and film rights were bought by 20th Century Fox for a reported $125,000.[5] The studio assigned Saul David to produce and Mark Robson to direct. Robson had intended to make The Centurians but this was delayed when his chosen star, Anthony Quinn was unavailable.[6] Frank Sinatra had read the novel and wanted to buy the film rights himself; when he heard they had been lost to Fox he offered his services for the lead role.[7]

Von Ryan’s Express was a project keenly undertaken by 20th Century Fox, which was still financially reeling after the extravagance and critical bashing of Cleopatra. Fox, in a bid to prove that they were still able to make films on an epic scale, shot extensively on location in Europe and built a full-scale prison camp as opposed to shooting on a backlot. It was producer Saul David's first film for Fox. He followed it with Our Man Flint, Fantastic Voyage and In Like Flint.

Rumours of a personality clash between star Frank Sinatra, who was flown by helicopter to the set, and director Mark Robson were not enough to cause problems as the film was shot with relatively little trouble. However, Sinatra did insist that the ending of the film be altered, ending any chance of a sequel. Sinatra also insisted the film be shot in Panavision rather than Fox's CinemaScope.[8]

The main locomotive used in this film is an Italian ALCO built class 735, while in the final chase sequence an Italian Franco-Crosti class 743 acts as a Nazi locomotive. No unit of these locomotive classes survives today in operational condition.

Critics liked Von Ryan's Express. Variety noting that, "Mark Robson has made realistic use of the actual Italian setting of the David Westheimer novel in garmenting his action in hard-hitting direction and sharply-drawn performances."[12] Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy noted in her biography of her father that his performance fuelled speculation of another Academy Award nomination. Time Out London called the film a "ripping adventure" that was "directed with amused panache by Robson, and helped no end by a fine cast...",[13] while the BBC's TV, film and radio listings magazine The Radio Times described it as "a rattlingly exciting Second World War escape adventure, with a well-cast Frank Sinatra..."[14]

The film grossed $17,111,111[2] ($128,703,742 in 2015 consumer dollars) at the North American box-office, equating to $7,700,000 ($57,916,684 in 2015 consumer dollars) taken in box office rentals. Variety ranked Von Ryan’s Express as the 10th highest-grossing film of 1965. Additionally, this would be Sinatra’s highest grossing and biggest earning film of the decade.

British Channel 4 ranked Von Ryan's Express number 89 on their list of 100 Greatest War Films, commenting, "A ripping yarn culminating in a wild train dash through [Italy], with director Mark Robson cranking up the tension and releasing it with some excellent action set-pieces."[16] It has a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.